Post Rusty's lift- clunks, squeeks, rattles, oh my!! Help..

Spike6901 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 2:02 pm

I installed my Rusty's coil lift about 8 months ago and for about 3 months, it was flawless. The Jeep has been on three good offroad trips but nothing really serious.

Then, of course the rear shocks started to make noise becasue the Rusty's supplied shock bushings are the wrong size and you have to use washers (great design there). I tightened them up and that went away for a month or so then came back, then tightened again, another month came back, etc... I have tightened those suckers 4 times, but I think that they are finally solid now or I have bent the shock mount enough.

The front is another story. It clunks, rattles and squeaks (not to be confused with the strut topping out clunk). You can definatly feel these clunks in the stearing. It sounds like a piece of crap driving through my neighborhood. So, I jacked up the front, removed the tires, loosened up all of the suspension bolts, cleaned everything, silicone sprayed every joint and bushing, reset the strut to the factory position in the clevas, and torqued everything down back to factory specs. I could not see any appearant damage to any ball joints or any other bushings. I mean, it looks great under there. I can live with the squeek because it just sounds like bushings, probalby on the sway bars.

I drove out feelinging like I had to have solved the problem because I found that one the clevas bolts had worked itself a little loose. As soon as I pulled onto the road, clunk, clunk, rattle, squeak!! WTF?!!

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am at a loss here and my wife, who drives the KJ daily, is none too happy as you can imagine.

krazz1e · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:47 pm

What speeds do you experience this? I will admit I have alot of squeaks under 35mph after that they seem to go away or are over powered by road noise.

Turn up the volume on the radio!! Yeah, but try to tell your wife that.

Double check the sway bar make sure it's tight? Take the rear off if you haven't already and drive again, the front take off and drive around the block, but put back on for saftey reason.

winkelhawk · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 5:55 pm

I had the same problem after installing my Rusty's lift. It turned out to be a misalignment of the swaybar. I tightened up the bar while the suspension was unloaded the first time. After figuring out what it was. I loosened the swaybar and put a jack under the LCA and then tightened the swaybar links. This kept the bar in the correct location when eveything was tight. No problem's since. Hope this helps.

Spike6901 · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:33 pm

OK, so loosen the sway bar links, jack the a-arm up to normal height to load the suspension and then re-tighten the links?

I will give this a shot. Now that I think about it, you might be on to something there.

Thanks

1stJeepKJ · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:46 pm

Spike6901 I think you can actually re-tighten your sway bar while the jeep is on the ground. I usually loosen mine with the jeep on the ground and then re-tighten with the jeep on the ground. I may be way of here but I'm sure someone knows for a fact.

krazz1e · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:53 pm

Quote:

Spike6901 I think you can actually re-tighten your sway bar while the jeep is on the ground. I usually loosen mine with the jeep on the ground and then re-tighten with the jeep on the ground. I may be way of here but I'm sure someone knows for a fact.

Yeah, I thought so too. Just tight them up. Maybe by lifting it up it's easier to align the bolts in the hole?

winkelhawk · **Posted:** Tue Nov 01, 2005 9:40 pm

I only did so I could get a good look at the alignment of the swaybar with the tire off. But you should be able to get to it when it is on the ground.

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 12:33 am

My head is spinning. I've literally spent hours reading the forum on all the different lifts and I was leaning for Rusty's Coil Lift. Weird noises, rattling, and squeeks are the type of thing that drive me nuts.

Is this a common problem to this lift or all lifts? I can handle pops, bangs, or scrapes while wheeling-but not just driving down the road. If you read back long enough, all the feedback on the lifts is mind boggling and contradictory. Is the Frankenlift the only lift that nobody has a problem with? I'd love that lift but cant afford that AND the jewelry that I would need to buy to keep the wife quiet!

winkelhawk · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:59 am

I think at any given time any lift can have a problem. Some more than others. After I fixed the swaybar misalignment, which was an install issue, I have not had any problems. I would recommand this lift, great price, OME front struts, good ride. I think it is a great value for the money. I have installed lifts in the past and have seen many lifts installed by other people, I used to own a auto customizing shop. 9 time out of 10, it is an installation issue not the lift. If you buy a good quality kit and install it correctly, you should be fine.

Spike6901 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 8:22 am

I tell you what...If I can get to it this weekend, I will post the results if this worked or not. If it works, it wasn't the kit, it was my faulty install.

Steakgoddess · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:06 am

DaveKJ02 wrote:

My head is spinning. I've literally spent hours reading the forum on all the different lifts and I was leaning for Rusty's Coil Lift. Weird noises, rattling, and squeeks are the type of thing that drive me nuts.

Is this a common problem to this lift or all lifts? I can handle pops, bangs, or scrapes while wheeling-but not just driving down the road. If you read back long enough, all the feedback on the lifts is mind boggling and contradictory. Is the Frankenlift the only lift that nobody has a problem with? I'd love that lift but cant afford that AND the jewelry that I would need to buy to keep the wife quiet!

Dude, I have had no problems with my Rusty's lift.
Every product out there is going to have supporters and nay-sayers. You have to decide which product is right for you. You have to weigh all the pros and cons, including price.

Tokyojoe · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:07 pm

DaveKJ02,

No problems with my Rusty's 2.5" Coil lift.

Like any mechanical device, someone may have a flawless item and another may not. Look at all the issues people have with their KJ's? Look under "General Discussions." Blinkers not working, Fob not working, tweeter problem, Tire pressure light issues, brakes wearing out too fast, Ball joint issues, etc, etc, etc..... If you look at all those issues, someone wouldn't want to buy a KJ because it has all those issues.

No product will never have problems. What each of us does with our vehicles will cause each person to have different issues throughout the years.

There are probably more people with the Rusty's lift than the other lifts (the Poll I made doesn't show it). There was a huge Rusty's Lift group buy last year.

With more owners of a product, the greater chance to hear from people with an issue.

Even the Frankenlift owners will tell you the Rusty's lift is a good product, especially for its price.

nails023 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:13 pm

Tokyojoe wrote:

Even the Frankenlift owners will tell you the Rusty's lift is a good product, especially for its price.

From what I have read the Rusty's lift is great bang for the buck. I was leaning towrds this lift myself and then decided to go ahead with the Frankenlift. I doubt I would have regretted it either way.

RkyMtnKJ · **Posted:** Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:42 pm

yeah my problem with this lift is the squeaking in the rear and on cold mornings sometimes the front, but isnt this easily fixed with some ranchos??? im sure its the bushings or shocks, but ill look into it more this summer when im able to get under there without a jacket on...

Post Rusty's lift- clunks, squeeks, rattles, oh my!! Help..

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